Dena Schlosser, the former Collin County woman who killed her baby by cutting off her arms but was found not guilty by reason of insanity, is back in a state mental hospital.
Schlosser, 41, was formally ordered back to Terrell State Hospital on Thursday by State District Judge Chris Oldner, said her attorney, David Haynes, but she has been under care there for several weeks.
She was found in Richardson by firefighters there in March, Haynes said. She was walking down the street at 2 in the morning.
Collin County prosecutors could not be reached for comment.
Haynes said Schlosser, who was released from state care by Oldner in November 2008, had been free on an outpatient maintenance basis that required her to keep up with her medications, among other things. He said that she had basically abided by the requirements until recently.
She had been pursuing her outpatient treatment plans, Haynes said. She had a job, and she was working to the satisfaction of her employer. But we can't hide the fact that she was walking down the street at 2 in the morning, and I can't say that I disagree with the judge's decision.
In November 2004, Schlosser was arrested after telling police she sliced off her 10-month-old daughter's arms with a kitchen knife. She told psychiatrists that God had told her to sever the child's limbs.
Schlosser, who has two older children but is forbidden by her 2007 divorce decree from having contact with them, was diagnosed with postpartum psychosis and depression after the home birth of her youngest child.
Her first capital murder trial ended in a hung jury. In April 2006, Oldner found her not guilty by reason of insanity.
She was sent to Rusk State Hospital for treatment until she was released in 2008. At the time, the judge determined that the safety needs of the community could be met through outpatient services for Schlosser.
But Oldner imposed several restrictions, including that she have no unsupervised contact with minor children; she comply with a birth control regimen that is supervised by a doctor; she attend weekly mental health appointments; and she continue her medication.
If she failed to comply, the judge had the right to revoke her freedom, which he did Thursday.
She wasn't arrested; she was never in jail, and she won't be, Haynes said. After the firefighters found her, she was taken away in an ambulance. It's a civil matter now, and the judge believes that's [the state hospital] the best place for her. She's going to try and do what's she's been doing, and that's try to get better.
Haynes said his client, who had moved away from Collin County after her release, will be back under the regular care of a psychiatrist while at Terrell. The length of time she will spend there is indefinite. Haynes said Friday that point was made clear during Schlosser's nearly five-hour commitment hearing Thursday before Oldner.
The doctor, when he testified, he was asked directly by the judge how long it would take her to get better, Haynes said. And the doctor said, 'That's very hard to say. It could be months. It could be a year. It could be longer than that.'
